Camtasia, Snagit Help First Responders Train for Their Jobs

Some people paint, some people build models, and others, like Georgianna Skinner, make videos. Georgianna has dedicated her life to education but likes to spend her spare time shooting, editing and tinkering with videos—so much so that it’s become her unofficial second job. When Georgianna isn’t managing the online education department at Florida Keys Community College, she’s creating videos for the school with Camtasia for Mac and Snagit.

Who is Georgianna?

Georgianna has been in education for more than 37 years. Her love for video became a great asset in her career, and she has been able to incorporate video into her work life on a regular basis. From an inauguration video of the new FKCC president to taping speech classes for students to review, Georgianna has become a one-person shop for helping her colleagues enhance their jobs with video.

“I’ve always loved video,” said Georgianna. “As an avid Mac user, I’ve tried a number of different programs for video editing, but Camtasia helps me get things done best. Every time I need to do something, I can do it all with Camtasia. With every other tool I’ve tried, I can do pieces. Camtasia gives me everything I need.”

Though living in the Florida Keys may seem like all fun and games, Georgianna does have work to do. As director of the college’s online learning department, it’s Georgianna’s job to make the online learning experience for students as beneficial as possible.

Camtasia and Snagit for first responders

Georgianna’s video skills came in quite handy recently when FKCC expanded their training for police officers, fire fighters and first responders to include underwater sonar training in the school-owned lagoon.

Sonar training may seem like a niche market, but it’s an important niche to focus on. Police and fire fighters don’t have weeks or months to spend on training. For them, sonar training needs to be a matter of days. Additionally, sonar equipment has come down significantly in price. Yet it’s still a major investment for police and fire departments that often have tight budgets. So Georgianna and her colleagues needed to find a way to make their training as fast and efficient as possible.

“Our students are constantly learning new technologies to help them on the job,” said Georgianna. “One of the courses we’re able to offer gives them training on complicated and expensive sonar technology. However, the software that comes with sonar equipment can’t make recordings on its own. So we use Snagit to capture video of what first responders can expect to see using sonar equipment.”

FKCC uses side scan sonar equipment, which looks like a torpedo trailing behind a boat tethered by a cable. The side scan sonar sends out sound waves that bounce off of surrounding objects. The returning sound waves are interpreted by the equipment and show first responders what’s below them. Georgianna and her colleagues use Snagit to capture the sonar interpretations to use as training videos for future students.

“Prior to this technology, first responders really had their work cut out for them,” said Geogianna. “They often had to dive into murky lakes and rivers with extremely low visibility — many times they couldn’t see their hand in front of them. Sonar technology allows them to avoid the dangers low-visibility presents and see much more underwater than they could before.”

Taking simple videos to the next level

Prior to the Snagit/Camtasia combination, FKCC trainers had to rely on descriptions and static images in the classroom. Now, they’re able to send videos of real sonar scans to training participants before they start the training.

After capturing a sonar scan with Snagit, Georgianna is able to easily transfer the recording over to Camtasia. There she edits the videos with callouts, title cards, or even simple transitions to make them more informative and easier to watch. She then exports the video to YouTube and embeds the final product in the FKCC learning management system for trainees to watch.

The videos have been so helpful that FKCC was able to shave off more than an entire day of training from the program. And, now that trainees are able to watch training videos ahead of time, they spend less time in the classroom and more time getting hands-on experience.

Though videos are not a perfect 1-to-1 match for in-person training, Georgianna and her colleagues found a sweet spot in merging wholly-online training and wholly-in-person training. Much like a flipped classroom, trainees have access to the videos on any of their personal devices. They watch the videos when and where they can, then come to class ready to ask questions that will help them gain a deeper understanding of the course.

For those looking to learn more about how to use Snagit and Camtasia to their fullest potential, Georgianna recommends TechSmith’s tutorials (Camtasia Mac | Win, Snagit tutorials). To learn more about FKCC and the courses they offer, visit their website. But for now, we’ll leave you with a slice of paradise from the recent FKCC Community Day.

Change the way you work

TechSmith's suite of screen recording and video editing tools lets you make great content and collaborate with anyone. Communicate clearly, show what you know, and easily access your content wherever you are.